Russia
= Russia = The Russian Republic, more commonly known as Russia, is a constitutional democracy located in Eurasia, stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean. In Europe, it borders Finland, the United Baltic Duchy, White Ruthenia, the Ukraine and the Don-Kuban Union. In Central Asia, it borders Alash Orda and Mongolia. In the Far East, it borders the Fengtien Republic and Transamur. History The Weltkrieg Russia entered the Weltkrieg to protect its ally, Serbia, from Austro-Hungarian annexation in 1914 and subsequently fought a war across three fronts while isolated from its allies in the Entente for three years. Neither the people nor the Tsar wanted war but both felt that the only alternative to intervention was total domination of Europe by Germany. Although the Imperial Army was far from defeated in 1916, the already existing public distrust of the autocratic regime was deepened by the mounting casualties, war debts and accusations of corruption and treasonous acts in high places, which would lead to the outbreak of the Russian Revolution in 1917. The Revolutions and Civil War A series of uprisings subsequently arose when workers and peasants throughout the country, as well as deserting soldiers (who were mainly of peasant origin), began to see through the web of lies their Tsars had spewed at them for centuries. Many of the uprisings were organized and led by democratically-elected councils called Soviets. The February Revolution overthrew the Russian Monarchy, which was replaced by a shaky coalition of political parties that declared the Provisional Government. The Provisional Government proved unable to resolve many problems which had led to the February Revolution and in November a second revolution, led by Vladimir Illyich Ulyanov, alias Lenin, erupted in St. Petersburg (then called Petrograd) and afterwards the Russian Civil War had begun between the Bolsheviks, the revolutionary majority faction of the old Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, and the White Movement, a coalition consisting of various ideologies, but mostly anti-communists, counter-revolutionary monarchists, right-wing conservatives and, in some cases, liberal republicans. During the Civil War, the Bolsheviks signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, which ended hostilities with the Central Powers at a high cost: the collapsing Russian Provisional Government lost its Ukrainian, Polish and Baltic territories, as well as the Grand Duchy of Finland by signing the treaty. At the Congress of Omsk in April 1919, the White Generals agreed to form a united political front behind Alexander Kerensky and the remaining forces of the Provisional Government. The united White forces, colloquially called the White Army, joined by the new Kingdom of Finland, made considerable gains, yet the Red Army was still strong and well entrenched in the industrial heartlands and transportation networks of Russia. However, soon the German Empire, fearing the success of a dangerous ideology based on anti-imperialism and equality, decided to intervene on behalf of the Whites in exchange for total recognition of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. By September of 1921, both Moscow and St. Petersburg had fallen to the White forces and a new Russian Republic was established in Moscow on October 12, with Kerensky as its first President. Republican Russia Although the new Russian Republic had to face many threats after its establishment, it managed to survive. Thanks to German mediation, the East Karelian national revolt was quelled with the signing of the Treaty of Tartu, which awarded the region of Petsamo to the Kingdom of Finland, but prevented a full-scale war and kept East Karelia under Russian rule. Thanks to Kerensky's diplomatic efforts, Russia managed to establish good relations with most of the new countries that emerged from the Civil War, including the Japanese-backed Transamur puppet state in 1922. In 1924, the shadows of another civil war threatened the country when the Minister of Defence Alexandr Kolchak tried to overthrow the government and seize power. However, the coup failed and the majority of conspirators were either killed or arrested, although a few plotters (Kolchak among them) managed to escape. Since then, the government has enforced its grip on the country and struggled to improve the economy, devastated by the Civil War. For the past fifteen years the leading parties, the Socialist Revolutionaries and Kadets, have governed in an uneasy coalition under Kerensky, maintaining their power through electoral manipulation and a lack of serious political opposition or awareness from the populace. However, the worsening of the global economy has yet again eroded the trust of the people and, in the case of a resuming of internal conflict, unknown forces could attempt to remove Kerensky from power and seize control of Russia. Politics President: Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky (right Socialist Revolutionary, born 4 May 1881) Prime Minister: Pavel Nikolayevich Milyukov (Kadet, born 27 January 1859) Minister of Foreign Affairs: Pyotr Berngardovich Struve (Kadet, born 26 January 1870) Minister of Finance: Nikolai Alexeyevich Maklakov (independent monarchist, born 9 September 1871) Minister of Interior: Andrei Ivanovich Shingarev (Kadet, born 30 August 1869) Director of the Okhrana: Sergey Fyodorovich Oldenburg (Kadet, born 26 September 1863) Chief of the General Staff: Field Marshal Anton Ivanovich Denikin (born 16 December 1872) Chief of the Armed Forces: Field Marshal Lavr Georgiyevich Kornilov (born 30 August 1870) Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy: Grand Admiral Vasily Alexandrovich Kanin (born 11 June 1862) Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force: Major General Anton Vasilevich Turkul (born 24 December 1892) Governmental structure President The President of Russian Republic is the head of state, who chosen by the Senate (3/5 majority required) and elected for a six-year term. Competences: - appoints Supreme Commander-in-Chief, - has legislative initiative, - represents country abroad, - cooperates with government (minister for foreign affairs) when it comes to the foreign policy, - has the right of veto (Duma may override it), - appoints Chairman of the Council of Ministers chosen by the Duma and ministers chosen by Chairman, - may announce referenda with Senate's and Duma's consent, - may issue decrees and appoint presidential government in cases of state of emergency. Senate Senate of the Russian Republic (from 1919 to 1926 State Council of the Russian Republic) is the upper house of the Russian parliament. There are 150 seats: 50 senators chosen by regional legislatures, 50 senators appointed by the President (after he gets elected/reelected), 50 senators chosen by the people with sufficient age (30 years) and education (higher education) or social status (former aristocracy) or personal wealth, term of office - 6 years. Competences: - chooses Speaker of the Senate (50% of votes + 1 required), - chooses President, - may propose changes to the bills passed by the State Duma, - exercises supervision over President. Speaker of the Senate (de facto vice president of Russian Republic) chosen by the Senate (has to be senator) and might be at any time replaced. The current Speaker of Senate is Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich Romanov. Competences: - presiding officer of the Senate, - becomes president-in-office, should the president become unable to serve for any reason. New president is elected only after term of office of the elected president comes to end. - becomes president-in-office if the Senate doesn't manage to reelect/elect President, - may represent President in ceremonial duties, - spokesman for Senate's interests. State Duma State Duma is the lower house of the Russian parliament. There are 550 seats (electoral system - proportional representation). Duma members chosen by the people (universal suffrage for all citizens of Republic aged 20 or older), term of office - 5 years. Competences: - legislature of the Russian Republic, - has legislative initiative, - chooses Chairman of the Council of Ministers and accepts (or disagrees with) proposed Cabinet, - may pass vote of no confidence resulting in Chairman's dissmisal, - exercises supervision over government, - may annouce referenda with Senate's consent, - may change constitution (with Senate's consent) - 2/3 majority required. Political Parties Politics in Russia are highly unstable at present, and there are signs that Kerensky's shaky unified coalition is beginning to fall apart. This has resulted in a largely dichotomous "left/right" divide within the nation. The Socialist Revolutionaries were one of the most powerful factions of the Civil War and continue to exert influence in the State Duma. Due to differences over economic matters, the party is often divided into left-wing and right-wing factions, headed by Victor Chernov and Alexander Kerensky, respectively. The Mensheviks are the most radical group in the Duma, and consist of members of the splinter faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party who didn't flee to Georgia or elsewhere after the October Revolution failed. They currently maintain ties with the left-wing factions of the Socialist Revolutionaries. The group also includes Bolsheviks who remained in Russia after the Civil War, most notably Nikolai Bukharin. The Constitutional Democrats, or Kadets as they are more commonly known, are a liberal party favoring a free-market and capitalist constitutional republic and are led by Pavel Milyukov. They are the weakest of the major parties vying for control within the Duma and the country itself. There also exists a coalition of conservative aristocrats and wealthy land owners who favor a return to the monarchy. They are supported by the Russian Orthodox Church and members of the old Russian aristocracy. They do not possess much power in the Duma but retain control of much of the Senate which lets them name a President in the event of a vacancy of the position. Military The Russian military is extraordinarily obsolete. While it maintains a steady presence along the entire border, the military lacks competent commanders and discipline, and there are significant disagreements in the General Staff on how the military should be developed. Army The current political situation in Russia reflects extremely onto the military, and particularly the Army, with former Red and White Army soldiers beginning to raise their voices once again. The equipment of the Army is obsolete, of practically Weltkrieg-era age or even older, lacking the most basic of modern equipment like mobile tanks and transport vehicles. Navy The Russian Navy maintains a strong presence in the Baltic Sea and a nominal presence in the Arctic and Pacific Ocean, but has lost its presence entirely in the Black Sea after the secession of the Ukraine and Don-Kuban Union during the Civil War. Air Force The small Russian Flying Corps is the aerial arm of the Russian Military and has a small presence in Western Russia, fielding three wings of aircraft, as well as one wing in the Far East. Foreign Relations Friendly relations exist with historical friends like Serbia as well as Bulgaria, Bohemia, Hungary and Romania. Unfriendly relations exist with the Far Eastern states of Mongolia, Japan and Transamur. Culture The culture of Russia is an old one, in existence in its present form for at least a thousand years with the settling of today's northwestern Russia by the viking king Rurik in the ninth century, and has developed and spread its heritage over half a continent. While the majority of Russians live in the current Russian state, there are hundreds of thousands or even millions of Russians living in former areas of the Russian Empire, particularly in or around the Don-Kuban Union and the Ukraine. Summary The current state of Russia is a dreadful and melancholy one, with myriad ideologies and tensions dug-in throughout the nation. With Socialists and Communists in the northwest, separatists in Siberia and the Far East, and reactionaries in the rural centre, Russia is a hotbed for future violence and conflict. Yet with all of its current flaws it has the potential to become a true empire once more, or a true union, should the revolutionaries in the northwest succeed in their goals. No matter the problem, Russia and her people have always overcome before, and they shall once again!